Foul Play (Barlow Sisters Book 3) Read online

  The Ultimatum Backfire

  VINCENT

  Yesterday was torture. I spent the whole day missing Chloe, worrying about Nick, and trying not to think about what Tannon said.

  I’m a bad person for wanting to drop this. But that guy scared me. He warned us that looking into this will only lead to trouble, and I can’t put Chloe in danger.

  I need to see her.

  Running up the front steps of Armitage High, I weave through Monday-morning hallway traffic and make sure I swing past Chloe’s locker. She’s standing there chatting with Rahn. Her smile looks kind of forced, like she’s only half listening to her friend.

  The second she spots me, her expression transforms, lightening around the edges until she’s giving me a full-blown grin.

  I glance around me, sure every student within range is being warmed by her rays. But no one seems to notice and I scratch the back of my neck, tipping my head toward the corridor before loping off.

  Looking over my shoulder, I see Chloe kiss Rahn on the cheek and then hurry after me. Rahn looks a mixture of worried and annoyed as she watches her friend rush away.

  Shit, I really hate the way people see me sometimes.

  When I reach the bottom of the stairwell, I notice the music room door is open, so I head a little farther down the hall and click my fingers when Chloe pops into view.

  She grins and runs toward me, leaping into my arms with a giggle. I capture her against me, lifting her off her feet and stepping into the alcove so I can kiss her in privacy. Pushing her back against the wall, I let my tongue do the talking, swiping it into her open mouth and feeling my agitation immediately dissipate.

  She threads her fingers into my hair. I love how good that feels. It tells me that she’s as into this kissing thing as I am.

  Our lips dance, working in time until we both pull back to catch our breath.

  Chloe grins. “Good morning to you too.”

  I snicker and rest my forehead against hers. “I know it’s only been a day, but I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” She’s still playing with the ends of my hair.

  I kind of never want her to stop.

  “I have something to tell you,” she whispers.

  “Yeah?” I lean back so I can smile down at her.

  Her expression takes on a nervous edge and I’m immediately alert.

  “I know you want to drop this thing, but I couldn’t turn my back on it.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut. “Shit, Chloe, what did you do?”

  “Just a little more research. I didn’t look into the case, specifically. I started with Todd McCrae. I thought maybe he was murdered for a reason and Nick was just another cover-up, you know? Everyone thought it was a carjacking, but maybe there was more to it.”

  I groan and let her go.

  “Just hear me out. I found Todd’s girlfriend.” She captures my wrist before I can turn away from her. “I went and saw her, and—”

  “What?” I snap.

  My heart has just taken off, fear for Chloe nearly blinding me.

  Does she not get how dangerous this could be?

  Why the hell is she playing with fire?

  “She told me that Todd was onto something big. She didn’t know what it was, but he was really excited. Said it was going to set them up for the future.”

  I go still, curiosity tugging at me in spite of my fear.

  “And then she told me that the female detective in charge of the case came and took all his photos, notes, everything, saying it was evidence.”

  “What female detective?”

  “Exactly.” Chloe bulges her eyes. “Now, she couldn’t remember her name, but the woman was a short Latina…really beautiful, apparently.”

  “Well, that narrows it down,” I mutter.

  “Yeah, I know, but…the thing is…I really think we should bring Dad in on this.”

  “Chloe, no.” I hold up my palms to emphasize what I’m trying to say—stop this! “We have to drop this.”

  “But how? We can’t just turn our backs.”

  “Yes, we can.” I point to the ground, leaning close to her face and begging her to hear me. “Everyone we’ve spoken to has told us we can’t win this one. I don’t want you getting hurt. I don’t want anyone getting hurt! Things are fine the way they are.”

  “No, they’re not! You need Nick, and it’s not fair that he’s locked away for someone else’s crime. Whoever shot Todd McCrae is still out there somewhere.”

  “Yeah, and that person probably won’t hesitate to shoot you either! You want to bring your dad in on this? Scott Tannon left his family in order to keep them safe. If your dad starts nosing around, that puts you in jeopardy, and I’m not okay with that.”

  “Vincent, come on…”

  “No!” I shout. “You leave this alone, Chloe. I mean it.”

  Her eyes glint with defiance as she crosses her arms and stares me down. “I can’t do that.”

  My heart splinters, a thick shard digging into my gut as I pull the only card I have left. “Then this is over.”

  “What?” Her arms drop in time with her mouth.

  “I obviously can’t stop you, but I can’t watch you do this either. I’ve told you how I feel. How I want to keep you safe. How I want to be with you. If you care about me at all, you’ll leave things as they are.”

  “But I do care about you.” Her lips tremble, piecing my heart back together until she smashes straight through it again. “Which is why I need to find the truth and set Nick free.”

  My nostrils flare, my jaw working to the side as I look away from her.

  “Vincent, come on.”

  “No!” I’m too angry to speak, too rejected to do anything but walk away.

  She’s choosing to put her life in danger instead of be with me.

  “Vincent!”

  I keep walking, thundering up the stairs and hoping it’ll be enough to have her give up on this thing.

  But she doesn’t follow me and I’m soon walking to homeroom without my secret girlfriend.

  Shit! I thought my speech would work.

  Now what the fuck am I supposed to do?

  23

  Deaf Relations

  CHLOE

  My eyes are sore and gritty. I squint against the cruel sunlight and pull my cap down a little farther.

  Stupid baseball game. I don’t even want to play today.

  It’s an away game too, so it just elongates the whole damn thing.

  Most of the team were stoked to get out of class early so we could make it to Cullington on time, but even that didn’t make me feel better.

  I haven’t slept properly since Vincent basically broke up with me in the hallway. That was nearly three weeks ago, and I’m exhausted.

  I can’t believe he gave me an ultimatum—him or the truth.

  Why did he have to do that?

  He doesn’t get it!

  He wanted me to choose him, but I am choosing him. If you care about someone, you put their needs above your own.

  I’ve written him a note every day since, trying to explain myself, but he hasn’t replied to any of them. He won’t speak to me. He makes a point of looking the other way when I try to catch his eye.

  Talk about torture.

  I know what he’s doing. He’s convinced he’s keeping me safe by staying out of it. And maybe in some ways, he is. I haven’t raised it with Dad yet—I kind of wanted Vincent’s blessing before doing that—so I’ve just been quietly researching on the internet. I popped into the library to drag up some of Todd’s old articles. I was looking for anything that might trigger some kind of clue, but so far I’ve come up empty.

  I need to tell Dad what I know.

  He’s been doing shitty hours at work this week, but I have to pin him down this weekend. Maybe if I solve this, Vincent will be open to being with me again.

  Max stomps toward me, giving me a half-hearted high five before plunking down on the bench seat.

&n
bsp; “Nice batting, sis.” I nudge her with my elbow.

  “Whatever,” she grumbles, brushing a few stray hairs off her cheek.

  “What’s up with you?”

  She dips her head forward, holding onto the bill of her cap so I can’t see her face.

  “Max?”

  She groans. “Audition and big game are on the same day.”

  “What?”

  Her shoulders slump with a sigh and she looks over at me, talking softly so no one can hear us. Holden’s up to bat, so Maddie’s thoroughly distracted.

  “You got this, babe!” She claps.

  I lean in a little closer to hear Max’s grumbling. “I thought I could do both, but I’ve just found out this afternoon that the game and the audition are at the same time. Austin told me, and I was too scared to admit that it’s going to clash with the game.”

  “So you haven’t told the band yet?”

  “No. How am I supposed to let them down that way? They specially let me in, which is a really big deal, and now I can’t even make it because of stupid baseball!”

  “Aw, Maxy, I’m sorry.” I rub her shoulder. “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know! I can’t let Dad down, but how the hell am I supposed to tell Cairo that I can’t make it to the audition?”

  “Well, which do you want more?”

  My sister gives me a telling look.

  “Then you’ve got to tell Dad.”

  Max scoffs. “Yeah, right.”

  “What are you so afraid of?”

  “He won’t get it. Dad’s impossible to talk to.”

  “He’s not that bad.”

  “Yes, he is.” Max gives me an emphatic look. “He only hears what he wants to hear.”

  I shake my head, silently disagreeing with her. Sure, talking to Dad is hard work, but it’s not impossible. He acts like a grizzly bear sometimes, but at the end of the day we’re his daughters and he loves us. It’s all about how you word things.

  You know what, I’m going to prove Max wrong. I’ll test Dad out tonight and see if I can’t get him looking at things from my perspective. Maybe it’ll give Max the courage to try it out herself.

  Dad’s in a good mood after finding out that we won the game. Uncle Conrad came along for the ride so he’s given Dad a play-by-play rundown, talking Max up the way he’s always done.

  Maddie chips in with her own bits of information and dinner ends up being a jovial, chatty affair.

  Except for Max and me.

  We’re pretty damn quiet…and no one even notices.

  After dinner, Maddie excuses herself to go help Holden at Cresthill. Mom and Dad have really warmed to Holden, especially when they found out about his volunteer work.

  “You doing anything with Rahn tonight? It is a Friday.” Mom grins.

  “Uh, no, she’s got a family thing, so I’m just kicking around here tonight.”

  “We could go catch a movie.” Max looks at me hopefully and I instantly know she’s saying, Be my cover for Cairo. Please, please!

  “Sure, I’ll just help Dad with the dishes first. It’s my turn.”

  “Cool. I’ll go get ready.” Max practically skips away from the table.

  “You can go, sweets. I don’t mind doing this.”

  “No way.” I grin at my father. “You’ve been doing horrible hours. I’m not going to leave you alone with a pile of dishes on your first night off.”

  He winks at me and we clear the table together.

  Dad starts rinsing and stacking the dishwasher while I clear off the table. Soon all that’s left are the pots and wineglasses Mom likes us to wash by hand.

  “Hey, Dad.” I grab a dishtowel and spin it around my finger while the sink fills.

  “Uh-huh?”

  “You know that murder case from just over a year ago?”

  “The McCrae one?”

  “Yeah. Have you ever looked into that?”

  “No.” He glances over his shoulder with a confused frown. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. “Don’t you think it’s weird that Nick Mancini swore he was innocent and then went quiet about it?”

  “Uh…no. Guilty people do that all the time.”

  “But surely you get a feel for who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.”

  “Sometimes. And other times people fool you. There are a lot of conmen in this world.”

  “I know.” I bob my head. “But from what I’ve heard, the case doesn’t add up to me.”

  “From what you’ve heard?” Dad snickers. “Honey, we don’t reopen old cases unless we have something solid to go on, and Nick Mancini’s word is hardly solid. Not to mention the rumors you’ve no doubt heard.” He puts the pot in the rack and gives me a quizzical frown. “What’s got you asking this anyway? Vincent hasn’t been threatening you or anything, has he? Forcing you to manipulate me somehow?”

  “What?” My nose wrinkles. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

  “Because you said someone told you that something was off. The only person that could truly benefit from Nick’s release is his family.”

  “Well, Vincent has never asked me to come to you.”

  “Good. I hope he’s never asked you anything.”

  “What?”

  “Look, sweets, I know your style is to always give people the benefit of the doubt, but that can be dangerous. Some people are just born bad, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

  I plunk the pot on the counter, kind of annoyed. “How can you think that way? You’re a cop. Aren’t you supposed to have hope in humanity?”

  “My job is to protect the good people by putting the bad guys away. That’s my hope. That’s why I work so damn hard, so that I can protect and keep innocent people out of harm’s way. And the Mancini family makes it very difficult for me to do that.”

  “But not all of them, right? I mean, you’ve never had to arrest Vincent.”

  “I’ve had to investigate him.”

  “And it turned out he was innocent.”

  “That doesn’t mean the rest of his family is. People are right to stay clear of them.”

  I snatch the small pot and furiously start drying it. “I still think people judge when they don’t have all the facts, or they don’t understand the backstory. Sometimes the best people can be dressed like wolves, and wolves can be dressed like lambs.”

  He gives me a confused look, then snickers. “That’s true, but are you calling the Mancinis lambs now?”

  “No.” I let out an awkward chuckle. “But what if Nick was innocent and he got put away for a crime he didn’t commit?”

  Dad flashes me a sad smile. “Sometimes that happens, but I don’t think that’s the case with this one.”

  “But—”

  “Chloe, you have to trust me on this. You’re not out there dealing with that family. They’re a bunch of merciless thugs who don’t care about anything but money and power. You just don’t see it because I don’t tell you about it.”

  “I see Vincent at school.” My heart is hammering so hard right now as I imagine admitting that I’ve actually made out with Vincent, and the fact that we’re not speaking at the moment is breaking my heart.

  I can’t see that going over so well, especially when Dad keeps talking.

  “You don’t hang out with him. You don’t go home with him, thank God. The environment he’s being raised in has to have a bad effect on the poor kid. That’s probably why he’s got such a foul temper, why he always chooses fists over a calm conversation.”

  I frown.

  Dad rinses off the frying pan and lays it in the rack. “I’m not trying to sound harsh, but that boy should be given a wide berth. I don’t want you trying to be nice to him or becoming his friend. And I’m allowed to say that, because I’m your dad and it’s my job to keep my daughters safe. I know you want to save the world, Chloe, but not everyone can be saved. I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t care about you. Y
our sweet heart makes you vulnerable sometimes.” Drying off his hands, he gently holds my face and makes me look up at him. “I love my girls more than anything. It’s my privilege to provide for you, and guide you in the right direction. I want you to have the best life you possibly can.”

  Max steps into the kitchen and Dad lets me go, taking the dishtowel from me. “I’ll finish up. You girls go enjoy your movie.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Max throws me my jacket, then grabs my hand and tugs me out of the kitchen before I can even put it on.

  “I don’t know what you were talking about in the kitchen. I only heard the last part, but I was right, right? He didn’t hear a word you said.”

  I harrumph as Max unlocks the car and starts laughing at me. “I told you!” she singsongs.

  Buckling up, I cross my arms and lean back in the seat while Max gets the right music going before reversing out of the drive.

  “Cairo’s meeting us at the theater.”

  “Awesome,” I mutter, so not in the mood to play third wheel. But what else am I supposed to do?

  It’s not like I can show up at Vincent’s door.

  Crap, I can’t even call him!

  Max starts singing to “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” oblivious to my internal angst.

  I should just make my life easier and drop this whole thing.

  But the thought of letting an innocent man stay behind bars makes my stomach curdle.

  I have to figure out who these people are and expose them.

  I just wish I didn’t have to do it alone.

  24

  Pointless Dreams

  VINCENT

  It’s been three weeks since I told Chloe to drop this and be with me.

  She hasn’t.

  The reason I know this is because every single note she’s left me explains yet another reason why we can’t turn our backs on my brother.

  It makes me feel like shit.

  He’s my family and I’m putting her safety above his freedom.

  But my stupid-ass plan didn’t work, and after weeks of catching Chloe’s heartbroken gaze on me, I can’t take it anymore.